The Press., 1887-07-07

TIE death of w. ". Billings of New Lon- don last week leaves Geo. M. Ives of Stafford the last survivor of the first board of directors of the New London, Willimantic and Spring field railroad, as chosen at stockholders meeting, April 18th, 1848. The board in- cluded a set of leading and active men of that day, all but two being residents of New London. At the meeting referred to it was decided to go ahead with the building of the road. As the name implies, Springfield, and not Palmer, was designed to be the northern terminus. The New London, Williamantic and Palmer railroad had previously been chartered by the state of Massachusetts,, and because of the apathy of Springfield the road was finally built to Palmer, the company char tered by Connecticut getting permission to make the change.
 THE conviction of Jacob Sharp of having secured, by bribing aldermen, the right to lay railway tracks in Broadway is an instance of justice oTertaking the guilty, and yet there are those who see grounds to sympathize with the old man now so likely to end his days in state prison. He desired the privilege of building the railway, now acknowledged to be a needed convenience of that main thor oughfare of the metropolis. He would have been glad to have paid the city a fair price, in fact did pay goodly sum, and if lions share went to the ring of saloon keepers and receivers of stolen goods, who every year se- cure their election to the office of alderman, it was, so far as he was concerned, necessity of the situation. In the breaking up of the Tweed ring it was shown to be the practice of the aldermen before allowing bills to add to the full amount, the city's creditor getting his portion, generous one to stop his mouth, and the overplus being divided among the ''ring." The operation in the case of the Broadway railway franchise was similar. Sharp paid into the city treasury the sum re- quired, and with it another snm which ought also to have gone into the treasury, as no doubt he would have preferred it should, but instead went to set of thieves who met him more than half way in negotiations which were not dishonorable to them for the reas- on that nothing could tarnish their al ready vile characters. It is well such dis graceful traf6cking is being punished, bribers and bribe takers also being punished. Some are in prison, others exiled in Canada. A thunderbolt has improved the official atmos- phere of the city. How long will it's good eff feet be apparent? aa...
 THERE is straw in recent election in England that has set the tories to thinking Lincolnshire for over 40 years has been repre- sented by tory, and at the last general elec- tisn fought on the home rule issue the anti Gladstone candidate had over 800 majority. At special election last week the home rule candidate won by TEA majority. The tories are depressed. A correspondent of the N. Y Tribune says: It IS 8 revelation to them. It shows that while they have been trampling rough-ahod over the House of Commons with their fortuitous majority they have been iv- ing in fools paradise. The voters beneath their feet were all the time moving in the op- Posite direction. Like the great browsing herd of Burke's noble metaphor the people were moving on needless of of the chirping of the crickets. The heart of the English democracy is sound on the Irish question, that every day as the educating process goes on the masses of the people in England are growing more and more closely into brotherly sympathy with the masses of the people in Ireland.